Lyon 2, Manchester United 2 (Europa League)
Lyon scored a late equaliser to leave their Europa League tie with Manchester United in the balance for the return leg at Old Trafford next week.
Embed from Getty ImagesUnited had looked to be taking a lead back from the French side after goals by Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee overhauled an early lead by Thiago Almada but the Reds couldn’t hold on and Rayan Cherki scored what could be a crucial equaliser to bring the Reds back down to earth.
“I made more mistakes than them this season.” said Reds boss Ruben Amorim who immediately leapt to the defence of his team and in particular his goalkeeper whose errors had cost United victory..
“There’s nothing I can say to help him but we have one more game to change everything.” he added.
Reds goalkeeper Andre Onana had been under the spotlight coming into this match after comments made by Lyon’s ex-United midfielder Nemanja Matic accusing the under-fire custodian of being “one of the worst” goalkeepers in United’s history.
Lyon were the better side in the first half and deservedly took the lead after 25 minutes through Thiago Almada after the Cameroon goalkeeper failed to claw away the Argentine’s free kick.
United levelled things up against the run of play deep into first half injury time when Leny Yoro headed in his first United goal following a chance by Manuel Ugarte.
Joshua Zirkzee came off the bench to put the Reds in the lead with two minutes remaining thanks to great work by Bruno Fernandes but in-demand playmaker Rayan Cherki was left with a tap in from close range after Onana failed to hold on to Georges Mikautadze’s late strike deep into injury time.
Despite the gloom following the late blow, United at least gave minutes to midfielders Mason Mount and Kobbie Mainoo which will give them hope of beating the French side next week.